Electrocatalytic Detection of Amitrole on the Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube – Iron (II) tetra-aminophthalocyanine Platform

It is shown that iron(II) tetra-aminophthalocyanine complex electropolymerized onto a multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrode greatly enhanced the electrocatalytic detetion of amitrole (a toxic herbicide), resulting in a very low detection limit (0.5 nM) and excellent sensitivity of 8.80±0.44 μA/nM, compared to any known work reported so far. The electrocatalytic detection of amitrole at this electrode occurred at less positive potential (∼0.3 V vs Ag|ACl) and also revealed a typical coupled chemical reaction. The mechanism for this response is proposed. The electrode gave satisfactory selectivity to amitrole in the presence of other potential interfering pesticides in aqueous solutions.